


Recovery

by AuroraDefae



Series: "We are literally a family of superheroes. A superfamily.” [5]
Category: Marvel
Genre: (Obviously), Anesthesia, F/M, Fluff, How many times can you say I love you in one sentence you DORKS?, M/M, PTSD, Recovery, Team forces Tony to take care of himself, medical scenes, temporary insanity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-23 05:16:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17677115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraDefae/pseuds/AuroraDefae
Summary: to be decided... but Please start at "Out of the Ice" or you'll be lost





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starspangledsprocket](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspangledsprocket/gifts).



“Tony, what did we say?”

“Do you want one of your widow’s bites to explode on you?”

“Tony, what did we say?”

“Do you want my armor to get squished again?”

“Tony, what did we say?”

  
He grumbled, running his hands down his face before looking at her tiredly.

“No stressful-”

“Things, I need to relax and recover.” Natasha intoned with him as she reached over the island and closed his holoscreens.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“What do you do for fun?”

“Work on my armor?”

“No, next.”

“Invent things?”

“Next. And don’t you dare say Steve.”

“Hey!”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Look. I am physically incapable of being cooped up, much less not building something.”

“Go play video games or something.”

“You had us taken off the active duty list for four weeks and you expect me to stay sane?”

“You got buried in a building, hypoxia, went blind, thought Steve died, relapsed, got the trashcan, and then had to travel back in time to prevent global conflict- all over the course of six weeks. Nevermind the fact you apparently died twice in that time period. I wanted to make it longer but didn’t want Fury getting suspicious.”

“And none of that would have happened if my armor could withstand more pressure and weight.”

“Um, apparently that Steve and Natasha were dumbasses.”

“I was buried in a building.”

“And you’re misdirecting this conversation on purpose. Go lay by the pool, doing nothing, for two hours.”

“Doing nothing? Two hours?”

“And you can’t verbally design something out loud to Jarvis.”

“That’s going to make my memories louder.”

“You can read a book.”

“Doctor Doom is going to attack soon.”

“You said it was decently handled, we know what buildings to evacuate and when.”

 

  
“Jarvis told me you were being stubborn.” Steve came in and Tony turned towards him, melting as Natasha laughed.

“Steve, I don’t know why I bother when I can just call you.”

Tony turned to give her a look and Steve joined him, Natasha throwing up her hands and walking out of the kitchen.

 

  
“Were you working on your holoscreens again?”

Tony leaned back into his hug, tilting his head up for a kiss. Steve looked down at him, sighing.

“You really need to relax.”

“I am going crazy, it’s only been a day and a half.”

“Star Trek?”

His face twitched as he crossed his arms.

“Patak.”

“That means absolutely nothing with that smile on your face.”

Steve fought his face into a frown for a few moments before it bounced back into a smile.

“Fine.” He tilted his head up again, and Steve leaned down, kissing him softly before pushing Tony off the stool, steering him to the communal area.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Clint have a cannon birthday? I chose September because that's when he first premiered in comics. Also, am I already having a small nervous breakdown this semester? You bet! Am I sleeping yet? No!

“Babe?”

When he didn’t respond, Steve bumped Tony with his shoulder, bringing him back to earth.

“Yes?”

Steve just looked at him. Tony had a wild, slightly panicked look in his eyes. “It’s okay, you were just staring into space.”

“Sorry.”

“Tony, it’s okay.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Need to talk about it?”

“We haven’t celebrated anyone’s birthdays. Can Thor’s fit on our calendar? Natasha was thrown out a window, does she even know hers?” Tony was going full steam, his hands in his hair. “What did future Steve and Natasha do that was so bad? What if we haven’t fully fixed the timeline? Natasha’s stingers are going to explode soon. Future Clint wanted new trick arrows I hadn’t even started designing. What if I get squished in the armor again? Do we have enough food-”

Steve leaned over to kiss him, deepening it when Tony tried to keep going, falling forward when he pulled back to continue.

“-Should I invent a new snack bar for Bruce that sustains him longer? How about yours or Natasha’s metabolism? Your bodies started eating themselves too soon, and you can’t build up a lot of fat deposits so it went for your muscles. I need to figure out how to improve Jarvis’ code to detect structural instabilities when I don’t have time to look around scanning-”

“Tony, stop.”

“I realized I know someone’s alive and you guys don’t. Future Natasha hacked and read pretty much every file at SHIELD. You don’t know what TAHITI is. Where are the other infinity stones? Who has them? What if Doctor Doom is worse or the facts I was able to give you change? I need to change my arc reactor’s design so I don’t get a trashcan-”

  


“How long has this been going on? He’s pulling some hair out.” They both looked at Clint, who was frozen outside the lift.

“A good minute or two,” Steve answered.  


“When’s your birthday?” Tony blurted out.

“Okay, Tony, calm down.”

“When is it?”

“September 25th. Now please calm down before I have to get knock out gas.”

“I need to fix the filtration in my suit, I inhaled some dust from-”

 

“Steve?”

“Don’t look at me, he backed out of a kiss to continue this.”

 

“Most of those are legitimate concerns or questions, and I’m right here,” Tony complained, his hands leaving his hair as he breathed a bit too heavily. “Also, do you know Natasha’s birthday?”

  


“Will you willingly walk to medbay or does Steve have to pick you up?”

“Bruce shouldn’t be up yet, he was malnourished, I changed the timeline- that didn’t happen the first time around-”

“Steve?”

“Already on it.” He grabbed a protesting Tony in a princess carry, following Clint into the lift.

  


“Guys-”

Clint turned to look at Tony tiredly. “We don’t know what time travel does to someone, and until Thor gets back, Bruce is going to give you a physical.”

Tony grumbled under his breath before glaring absently at the wall of the lift, his arms crossed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, idk what I'm doing.

“His brain is overloaded with memory engrams that it’s not structured to hold. It’s getting and going to get progressively worse.” 

 

Tony had taken one look at Bruce before protesting. Bruce’s words were still a little slurred, and he moved slowly around, watched cautiously by Natasha, who had joined them shortly after they arrived.

  
  


“Can I get a fucking break?”

“You’d think someone called the Sorceress Supreme, who wields an infinity stone, would have warned you,” Natasha commented, attempting a wry tone that came out concerned.

“In her defense, she said she didn't have much time to send me back and we didn’t discuss the actual act of time travel because Thor kept asking questions, I was occupied with a building that was bigger on the inside and the fact she told me I had actually died but had been brought to- I’m doing it again.”

“Yeah, you are. Can we do anything, Bruce?”

  
  


“All I can suggest is anesthesia for a coma, but from what we’ve gotten on the trashcan, I’m not sure if Tony’s mental state could take it, or if it would work.”

“I do not want any medicine for at least a month, if ever, so other options that would slow down how fast I am creating memories so my brain-”

“Magic?”

“Do we wait for Thor or travel to the Sanctum Sanatorium because she’s not always there, at least with the code I adapted from the tesseract.”

“You stopped.”

“I have a million things to say and I’m going crazy so I really want a cure before I disrupt the timeline again, because we don’t want global superpowered conflict, or whatever the SHRA-”

  
  


“Global superpowered conflict?” Clint asked. 

“That’s what she told Thor and me, but she didn’t explain it because she didn’t have the time to-”

  
  


“Babe, we might need to give you anesthesia, at least until we come up with a solution that’d work.” Steve had come over to hug Tony tightly, rubbing his back when he didn’t melt. 

“What if that damages the timeline or something happens that needs me, what if I’m in a coma for a long time-”

“Tony.” 

He bit his lips, shaking his head against Steve’s chest as he shook.

“Can you give us a moment?” Steve looked around at the others, who nodded before walking out, Natasha supporting Bruce as he stumbled. 

  
  


Steve drew back from the hug, putting Tony’s face in his hands. “We made a promise to take care of each other, Tony. Please let me do that.” 

“I’m- scared.”

“I know you are. I’ll be right here while the others try to find a cure. I promise.”

Tony shook his head again, and Steve leaned in for a kiss, feeling Tony relax a little.

“I’ll be here until you wake up, no matter how long it is. I love you.”

He squeezed his eyes tight to fight the tears, nodding stiffly.

“I love you.”

“I love you- too.”

“I swear to never leave your side again, for better or for worse, sickness, health, if you’ll have me. I promise.” 

Tony nodded again, collapsing forward into Steve. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I'd ever write a full-length solo relationship Clintasha fic, but I love them so much.

_ “The timeline isn’t damaged so we can’t intervene as we guard time.” _

_ “So how do we cure Tony?” _

_ “We cannot tell you that, you must follow the natural course of time.” _

  
  


“Nat-”

  
  


_ “Can you tell me if he gets better?” _

_ “They stayed silent.” _

_ “Is a coma a bad idea?” _

_ “They stayed silent.” _

  
  


“Nat, I have heard this conversation three times, and you’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.” Clint watched her pace in front of the couch again. 

 

“We can’t call Asgard, you’d think Heimdall would know we needed help, the Sorceress Supreme was our best bet but no.”

“Maybe it’ll wear off like the mind stone.” 

“I am really close to walking onto the helipad and screaming my lungs out to get Thor here.”

 

“Okay, what’s up?” He grabbed her hand, and she stopped pacing, looking at the floor.

“The timeline could have recovered if Steve and I hadn’t been assholes and then Tony would be okay.”

“She was from an entirely different set of events and a whole different person.”

“What if I do something impulsive like that again and hurt one of you guys?”

“You won’t.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because you’re a good person, Natalia.” 

“DON’T CALL ME THAT.” She ripped her hand out of Clint’s, running to the stairs. 

 

He sat frozen for a moment before he ran after her, trying to keep up with her high speed. Clint rounded a corner too fast and tripped, falling down the stairs, coming to rest at the landing she was standing on. 

  
  


“Ow.”

“Clint, why are you like this?” She had knelt down by him as he sat up, rubbing his head. 

“You can run like-” he tried to catch his breath- “five times faster than I can, I was trying to keep up.” 

“Do you think you have a concussion?” 

“Do not put the concern on me-”

She collapsed into a sitting position, her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, it’s just no one’s called me that since Nikolai.”

“I didn’t mean to reopen that wound, I just- you know.”

“I know, Clint. And thank you for believing in me. Since Tony came back, he’s commented on how small things have repeated and I’m scared the worse stuff will.”

“I like to think if we know about it, we’ll prevent it. Do you want to join me on the helipad yelling at the sky?” 

“Why are you in my life?”

“I’m fabulous.”

  
  


“Aw, come on, don’t laugh-”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have oxygen complications with anesthesia and I HATE those masks. I know it's ideal breathing air but I feel suffocated by them. I've had a few nurses and doctors get worried when I tried to remove them as I was still waking up. 
> 
> God, these two. Fluffy because With These Marks has 100 kudos!!!!!!!!!!

Tony’s body felt heavy, and waves of consciousness rolled through him as he came up, getting enough brain power to register just how awful he felt. His chest expanded forcefully against the weight, his inhale feeling stuck in his throat. Another wave of consciousness went through him, and he felt the hard plastic outline of an oxygen mask on his face, the rest of his body numb.

Red light registered on his eyelids, and he pried open his eyes, squinting, another inhale getting stuck in his throat. The light was too bright, and he closed his eyes, bobbing back down.

Feeling not fully worked to his arms, he reached up clumsily, trying to pull the mask off, coughing as he only managed to dig the plastic into a more uncomfortable position on his face.

Somebody removed the mask, lifting his head, and Tony sucked in a deep breath before coughing again.

He opened his eyes again, the light far less painful as he blinked, trying to focus his vision.

A hand was cradling his cheeks, and he moved his head towards it, a face faintly coming into view.

His brain partially clicked on, and Tony opened his eyes wide, trying to sit up, only to be pushed back down.

Steve.

He relaxed, unsure if that had just been a mental groan or if it was verbal.

  
“Hey, you’re okay, Tony.” A thumb brushed his cheek as the hand still cupped his cheek, and Tony smiled. Or at least, he thought he did. He hated anesthesia.

  
He lay there for what seemed like forever, heavy and warm as he woke up.

Coma.

He shot up, panting.

“-h gd.”

Fuck.

“Oh gt.” He articulated.

Fuck.

 

  
“Tony, it’s okay.” Steve sounded worried, and a bubble of nausea stuck in his throat.

 

  
He just collapsed forward into Steve, the adrenaline already fading.

“-’at anesthh-”

 

  
“Okay, just take it slow, you’re safe.”

 

  
“Nnmmmphff.”

His brain was finally turning on, and Tony let out a deep breath, pushing his head into Steve’s chest.

  
“Hate anesthesia.”

“It’ll wear off soon.”

“Hate it. And masks.”

Steve laughed at that, pecking him on the lips before pulling Tony back to him.

“Love you though.”

“I love you too, Tony.”

“Coma?”

“Tony-”

“Coma-” Tony felt his adrenaline spike again as he came roaring back. “Oh god, oh god-”

“Tony, you’re okay. You’re okay, you’re safe.”

“How long?”

“Three days.”

“My brain?”

Steve’s eyes flicked up to the top of Tony’s head, and he felt his breath catch.

“Oh god.”

“The scans look fine, but we couldn’t be sure until you woke up.”

Tony nodded, relaxing slightly as he rubbed his eyes.

“How do you feel?”

“Cobwebby.”

  
“He’s awake?”  
“Clint-” Steve warned, ignored as the others peeked into the medbay.

  
Tony groaned, hiding behind Steve, who wrapped him in a hug.

“Want quiet.”

“Okay, let’s get you to your room so you can sleep the rest of it off.” He picked Tony up, hugging him tightly in another princess carry, and felt Tony grab a fistful of Steve’s shirt as he hid his face in his neck.

 

-

 

He woke up mostly alert this time, sighing as he realized Steve was holding him tight, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Steve shifted, waking up, and Tony pulled him in, feeling like it had been forever since they had last kissed.

Still obviously half-asleep, half-awake, judging from the sloppiness as he kissed Tony back, Steve rolled over on top of him, hands in his hair.

 

Tony had Steve’s shirt halfway off before Steve pulled back, blinking as he fully woke up.

“You’re up.”

“Yeah?” Tony’s hands were frozen as he gripped the shirt, trying to read Steve’s face.

  
“Steve, what’s wrong?” Tony’s heart dropped.

  
“We need to run assessments of your mental state because the equipment Thor borrowed from Asgard might not have worked.”

“I feel fine,” Tony whined, fidgeting with Steve’s shirt. “I can complete my sentences, okay?”

“Tony-”

“Okay, alright.” He let go of Steve’s shirt, wriggling out from under him, moving to get off the bed.

“Goddamnit.”

Tony barely had time to turn to him before Steve darted to him, toppling him off the bed.

“St-” He was cut off as Steve kissed him passionately, lifting Tony off the floor briefly to take off his shirt.

  
Tony couldn’t help it. He really couldn’t. He burst out laughing, clutching his sides.

  
“Oh god, Tony?”

“I’m okay- just-” he tried to breath in deeply to calm himself, Steve’s furrowed eyebrows and worried face not helping.

“Do I need to get Bruce?”

“No, it’s just-” he forced in a lungful of air “-time repeating itself.”

Some tension dropped from Steve’s shoulders, but he still looked worried as Tony calmed down.

“I was trying to have a serious conversation with the other Steve, and I said the exact same thing before relenting. Although that wasn’t the best idea, you kicked me off the bed in medbay.”

“Medbay? We- what?”

Tony snorted, nodding.

“Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“All the crazy comes from you.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Are you sure?” Steve started tickling him.

Tony couldn’t respond as he burst out laughing again, pulling Steve back to him.

Steve came up for breath as he looked him in the eye. “God, I love you, Tony.”

“I love you more.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow at that before they were kissing again. 


End file.
